POSTGAME: Opening Round vs Sydney

[Fork 'em 6,991]

6 minutes ago, Deesprate said:

Try to justify it anyway you like but the longer term outlook is dire. Gawn best is behind him and other than Fritsch (Pickett is undisciplined) our forward line is woeful. T Mac and Brown great servants but finished. A club that struck it lucky with a COVID asterisk flag. Feed constant BS to supporters we are on a steady decline with a diminishing list and a stuffed culture.

Facts.

[Demonsone 2,043]

1 minute ago, Deesprate said:

Try to justify it anyway you like but the longer term outlook is dire. Gawn best is behind him and other than Fritsch (Pickett is undisciplined) our forward line is woeful. T Mac and Brown great servants but finished. A club that struck it lucky with a COVID asterisk flag. Feed constant BS to supporters we are on a steady decline with a diminishing list and a stuffed culture.

I don’t think you fluke winning flags they were emphatic for the season plus their finals, correct our 2 key fwds Tmac & brown are gone and we haven’t been able to replace them, they provided great contests, vs young Jvr & schache just can’t present. The loss of Jackson has hurt who would have taken over Gawn, Not sure why they didn’t try to get hogan after his departure from Freo. Not sure why Goodwin was extended  beyond 2024, yeah only first game but since the flag 4 finals loses… maybe the cliff is coming 

[Dusty_Hill 194]

1 hour ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

I’ve had numerous contrary reports from others there and the moisture was evident on players jumpers 

Yeah it was humid as f… dont listen to the dry reports. Pity we were our usual fumbly selves in slippery/wet conditions and they weren’t. Probably worth 3-4 goals to them. Plus some unlucky decisions/bounces of the ball and we get beat. Onto next week.
 

 Wish we would improve when it’s slippery though. That and some weird selections boggle the mind 

[58er 6,562]

1 hour ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Isn't that concerning that we keep dishing out putrid games like Brisbane and Essendon last year? For a bonafide premiership contender that is a very bad look. In our best years under Goodwin (2018 and 2021) I can't recall any such bad losses.

Prelim in West and Hawks early on. Cwood not great on QB either. In 2018 or 2021 either. 

Brisbane put in 2 shockers last year vs Suns at Carrara and Hawks at the G. No ones perfect. 

[58er 6,562]

1 hour ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

Rubbish 

Was 24° and 85-90% humidity, still is....

Agree I walked a 1 km from Mascot after about 2 laps around the SCG and Accor Stadium and in the light rail all crowded in together and my Tshirt was ringing wet.

it could have been a bigger factor in the last quarter as we definitely slowed down and the Swans last 10 players all ran on top of the ground all night. We looked one pace really without Kossie and the smaller ground was not played well by us.

Another Baffling Sub choice. Billing’s instead of Spargs  who has not had a lot of  recent training or match practice. Not a great game from him and he could have come on fresh say at 3:4 time and Billing’s played from start. Chandler Can’t with Spargs and Laurie either play all 3 together in the 22.

Lets see what next week happens but will need to get more life and pace in team of Dogs might run us off the G. 

[DEE fence 5,039]

Frustrated as hell and took the gloss off a day at the beach. Anyway I looked up the BoM for Thursdya evening, humidity was running at 90%, absolute kryptonite to even the fittest athletes if if not conditioned for it. Am prepared to give a reluctant mulligan, I really don't think we are that woeful, and nothing like the run we had against Carlton.

[zeldacat 53]

My concerns are:

Too predictable from our kick ins. May kicks to the right wing to find Max everytime. No creativity keeping the oppo guessing

Never have players at the front/back of the contest

No flare

However, only Round (0)! so we have 3-5 wks to get it sorted. Still confident

[Skuit 10,031]

1 hour ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Isn't that concerning that we keep dishing out putrid games like Brisbane and Essendon last year? For a bonafide premiership contender that is a very bad look. In our best years under Goodwin (2018 and 2021) I can't recall any such bad losses.

We lost by 22 points. We were 2 points behind at 3/4 time. I know you're newer to the sport, but it highlights our remarkable consistency and competitiveness in recent years if the three losses you cited (the other two by 11 and 27 points on the road) have you up in arms. Also, you might wanna roll the tape back on 2018 (from memory, the 'Is Goodwin the Right Guy?' thread was started around round 5.) 

[bing181 9,328]

2 hours ago, Ned said:

But I fear an awesome list i being/has been squandered by a coaching group that’s not really up to today’s standards.

It’s not an awesome list, far from it. I just don’t understand how people can keep trotting this out when the evidence to the contrary is there before us every week. 

[Queanbeyan Demon 6,865]

4 hours ago, dl4e said:

Played like fummbly school girls. Sydney much cleaner. Again our forward line was a problem. If schache plays seniors for us again I think I will sit in a corner and cry for 6 hours. 

Appalling comment.

[Jjrogan 1,439]

Not the reason we lost as we were putrid at the start of the last quarter.  But until Judd McVee (or if Petracca kicks well) gets midfield minutes nothing is going to change.  His handball fake and then kicking into the space the FORWARDS ARE MEANT TO BE LEADING TO cannot be taught or trained. Name one other player on our list that does that through instinct (Jake Melksham says hold my beer).   Enjoy the season.  

Edited March 7 by Jjrogan

[bing181 9,328]

4 hours ago, BLWNBA said:

He absolutely has to go. If people want to drink his bath water from ‘21; fine. But he had a Ferrari and he’s continued to treat it like a lawnmower. 

This is just delusional. We had one great season when everything worked, where we had basically no injuries and where McDonald and Brown were strong contributors. Since then, the list has fallen off a cliff, we have no key forwards worthy of the name for the moment - JVR can be, but he should only be taking the 2nd or 3rd defender, not coming up against the best in the league every week - beyond Lever and May we're playing kids or journeymen in the backline, Petty who held that same backline together alongside Lever/May is nowhere to be seen, we've lost Brayshaw, Langdon is a shadow of his 2021 self, Melksham is the nearest we have to a forward-line general and he's out of action ... you could go on and on.

You cannot take player after player out of a team and expect there to not be consequences.

[bing181 9,328]

4 hours ago, ANG13 said:

It really is hard to believe after having such forward disconnect last year that after having months to work on it it’s still a massive issue. It’s also hard to believe Stafford is still our forward coach. 

Maybe it's not Stafford. Maybe it has something to do with the players available.

Just a thought ...

[Hopeful Demon 1,517]

5 hours ago, bluey said:

Van Rooyen is a liability, ive seen enough.

I find it so hilariously ironic that you used to pump up Weideman at every opportunity but now feel the need to endlessly bag JVR.

Edited March 7 by Hopeful Demon

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

3 hours ago, layzie said:

Here's the issue with the body checking and negating tactics on Gawn. Yes it makes it hard, but I expect this to happen every single week from here on in. It will not get better, everyone will be doing it. 

Find a way to relieve our ruckman or we will surely die. 

Max can't get off the ground to leap over them so the tactic of running into his line at the ball, turning your body at the last minute and effectively blocking any run he has will be the way forward with most big bodied rucks from here.

And we have no back up.  So unless we're coming up against a smaller bodied ruck or ruck duo, Max is going to struggle against anyone who's large/solid, mobile and who's willing to do what Grundy did tonight.

Given Shack's height he shouldv'e been able to get over the top of Grundy alot last night but he continues to feign the physical and was useless in both roles imv.

Edited March 7 by Demon Dynasty

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

34 minutes ago, Jjrogan said:

Not the reason we lost as we were putrid at the start of the last quarter.  But until Judd McVee (or if Petracca kicks well) gets midfield minutes nothing is going to change.  His handball fake and then kicking into the space the FORWARDS ARE MEANT TO BE LEADING TO cannot be taught or trained. Name one other player on our list that does that through instinct (Jake Melksham says hold my beer).   Enjoy the season.  

I agree with this.  McVee needs to come into the middle for Salem now that Bowey's out for a stint imv.

Salem just doesn't have the burst speed to play anything but a small cameo (if needed) with minor minutes in the middle.

Mind you the burst speed appeared to be missing from pretty much everyone bar McVee & Windsor tonight.

Looked like most had concrete boots on whereas a fair percentage of Swans were the opposite out of congestion.

Lets not sugar coat it.  That was a worrying performance.

Apart from the lack of speed out of congestion, the fumbles, losing the ground ball geta, only 3 comtested marks (i think!?) and the forward woes.... it was also the ease with which they broke away from comgestion and the ease with which they broke us in the last that really worried me.

We alao had no one that was capable of going with Blakey off HB and he's been their 1 wood and doing this for 2 seasons now.

How that was not covered in the pre-match prep / selection table is mind boggling!!???  We made sure it didn't the last few times we played them.

Was last night's performance a true reflection of where this list is at or does this team just comtinue to suck in any sort of wet/greasy conditions ie;  most night games! and a number of winter day games??

I guess we'll know in about 5 to 6 weeks.

Edited March 7 by Demon Dynasty

[Jjrogan 1,439]

22 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

I agree with this.  McVee needs to come into the middle for Salem now that Bowey's out for a stint imv.

Salem just doesn't have the burst speed to play anything but a small cameo (if needed) with minor minutes in the middle.

Mind you the burst speed appeared to be missing from pretty much everyone bar McVee & Windsor tonight.

Looked like most had concrete boots on whereas a fair percentage of Swans were the opposite out of congestion.

Lets not sugar coat it.  That was a worrying performance.

Apart from the lack of speed out of congestion, the fumbles, losing the ground ball geta, only 3 comtested marks (i think!?) and the forward woes.... it was also the ease with which they broke away from comgestion and the ease with which they broke us in the last that really worried me.

We alao had no one that was capable of going with Blakey off HB and he's been their 1 wood and doing this for 2 seasons now.

How that was not covered in the pre-match prep / selection table is mind boggling!!???  We made sure it didn't the last few times we played them.

Was last night's performance a true reflection of where this list is at or does this team just comtinue to suck in any sort of wet/greasy conditions ie;  most night games! and a number of winter day games??

I guess we'll know in about 5 to 6 weeks.

Yep. A bit of patience is needed now.  I thought Salem was ok and did some nice things but the lack of leg speed was very evident. Pickett was sorely missed.  

Also, I'm not sure in what world Charlie Spargo offers more than Jack Billings.  Spargo offers nothing overhead and when you're struggling for a mark inside 50 it essentially become 5 on 6. Billings also can take a pot shot from 45 and nail it. Again, not the reason we lost but watching the same players struggle with the same limitations is just frustrating.  

[Hatchman 539]

The players looked exhausted to me and nothing like the team that tore the Blues apart

 

Accuracy was, as it has been for two years, still a major issue - maybe that's fatigue related this time but it's a trend that has not gone away. 

 

 

[poita 3,902]

Terrible performance for most of the night. We looked like a side that wanted to be anywhere else. 

Our bottom 5-6 players are simply not AFL standard - Schache, Chandler, Spargo, Laurie. Billings shouldn't have been sub, but was extremely poor. If we can't put 22 decent players on the field each week, we won't be playing finals. 

Windsor and Howes showed a bit early, but did very little after half time. We'll keep playing them though, because our depth is so bad that we simply have to. 

Gawn should be ashamed of his performance, being monstered by his understudy. Nevertheless if we had recruited a legitimate second ruck, we could have given him some support. Luckily for Max he will probably only cop this for 22 more games, unless he breaks down beforehand. 

Viney, Fritsch and maybe Petracca did their jobs, but the rest were really poor. Goodwin had a woeful evening as well. 

 

[Clintosaurus 7,861]

8 hours ago, Bingo said:

Like Heeney said, they play and train all preseason in this heat and humidity. We couldn't handle the ball.

Yep. Home games in NSW/Qld up to late April are gift wins for the home teams.

[Dr. Gonzo 24,297]

7 hours ago, Deecisive said:

i often wonder if our team gets ahead of themselves thinking that they have got a game in the bag before the ball is bounced and then go out and fine the opposition wants the ball more than we do. we have lost quite a few games to bottom sides like essendon that we really should not have.

That's why the constant talk about culture is garbage

[BDA 22,880]

I had a great night's sleep last night. usually don't after a loss. 

dreadful performance. Reminiscent of the first 3 quarters v the Lions last year (in similar conditions)

our kicking is so bad. aimless hit and hope into our forwards. 

hospital hand passing to the ankles of our teammates. no cohesion or fluency to our ball movement

what has McQualter been doing over the preseason?

We just looked awful. I'm struggling to see what is going to change.

McVee with the one bit of class to find Fritschy in the 3rd. he played well. Liked Windsor and Howes (after a tentative start)

Viney tried his heart out and i thought our defence held up well (albeit poor kicking brought trouble on ourselves). May did well. Lever not bad but again, his field kicking was poor.

For such a brilliant player, trac always looks hurried. he has more time than he realises and doesn't make good decisions. Maxy is a champion but had his colours lowered last night. Clarry undercooked. 

My new season confidence has taken a serious hit cos i saw the same old problems last night. let's see how we go over the next month.  I hope we can sort things out but i thought that is what the preseason is for.

Disappointed but i'll be getting along to the G next sunday to cheer the boys on. We badly need the win.

Go Dees

[BW511 2,688]

My main concerns from last night;

Grundy absolutely dominated Max, it was like the first contest threw Max out and he never recovered. Ordinary display from the captain to throw his toys in the fashion he did.

Structure at stoppages was non existent. We always load up on one side and the opposition just walk it out the opposite one - it happens every bloody time.

We have a bunch of small forwards that have no tricks other than being small. The first few contests of the third quarter (I think) had Blakey on Spargo and Rampe on Chandler - Blakey got them going time and time again.

I can’t believe Lever gets so much praise for being so pathetic at defending. He’s a liability 1 on 1 and don’t get me started when he has ball in hand. 

The club keeps telling us culture is great but the players really seem to believe they are better than everyone, they play as if they should win every game and it’s only a matter of time before it clicks. Completely understand there is opposition doing what they can to disrupt us but our intensity and intent was so far off the boil.

Could go on forever but those things were the most frustrating bits of a long list

 

[Boots and all 1,000]

5 hours ago, zeldacat said:

My concerns are:

Too predictable from our kick ins. May kicks to the right wing to find Max everytime. No creativity keeping the oppo guessing

Never have players at the front/back of the contest

No flare

However, only Round (0)! so we have 3-5 wks to get it sorted. Still confident

I wish Round 0 actually meant pre-season. I want a do-over.

[Dr. Gonzo 24,297]

7 hours ago, Deecisive said:

Van Rooyen has had a couple of years playing in the seniors and really does not seem to do a lot, he has come out and kicked up a couple of goals in games often late in the game but at other times he can rarely been seen. I dont know how much time we give him, or how much time we can afford to have him failing to hit the score board or help get the ball to our smalls to kick goals.

Come off it he's played one season as a mostly lone key forward in a team with [censored] poor delivery.

If you want to point the finger look at our leaders, Petracca, Oliver, Viney, Gawn, ANB, Langdon, Lever disposal not good enough. How many times did they hack it forward, kick over a teammates head, kick directly to the opposition? JVR is far from the problem and neither are Schache, Laurie or Spargo despite how poor they might have been too.